This invention relates to the area of telephone switching networks and, more specifically, to a system and method for detecting traffic congestion on network trunks caused by, for example, Internet service provider connections to local switching systems.
Home and business data communication has expanded exponentially in recent years. Most businesses and many homes have at least one computer equipped to communicate electronically (i.e., via the Internet, private data network, etc.). Some large businesses (and even some homes) are connected to the data network directly. However, most home applications and small businesses are connected to the data network by some form of Internet service provider (ISP). For each such data connection, there is a modem at the customer""s PC connected to a modem at the Internet service provider""s data access center. Thus, the first leg of the data connect, the leg between the computer and the ISP, is through the existing wireline telephone network.
Data access through the telephone network may take one of two forms either through a modem (which is currently at 53 kbps maximum) or through integrated services digital network (ISDN) (which is approximately 128 kbps). For each connection to an Internet service provider, a telephone call is placed from the user""s telephone line to the switch on which the user is based, and then through the telephone network to the switch connected to the Internet service provider. Finally the call is delivered to a modem pool at the Internet service provider equipment via trunks.
Local exchange carriers (local telephone companies) in the past have been purchasing switches and provisioning their networks for feature rich voice service. Each switch includes services and features that provide added sources of revenue for the service providers but also cost more than a basic switching system. These switches, however, are being used to connect to ISPs, and these lines are being held longer than ever before. A typical telephone call in the past was approximately two minutes. These days, it is not unusual to have a multi-hour connection. It would greatly benefit the local service providers to connect these data calls through equipment that is not feature rich and save feature rich equipment for telephone service for which they were originally intended. However, there is no current system or method for differentiating between a plain old telephone call and a data call to an ISP, and thus no satisfactory method for the LEC to determine economically rational trunking (inter-office connections).
This problem is solved and a technical advance is achieved in the art by a system and method for operating the system that may be connected to a switching system that supports an ISP connection to determine the originating switch of calls to the ISP. The system listens passively on the data link that the signaling network uses to set up telephone calls. The monitor checks call setup messages for destination telephone numbers. If it determines that the destination telephone number is for an ISP, the system reports the point code of the originating office (also found in the call setup message).
By analyzing the output of the traffic monitor according to this invention, a local exchange carrier (LEC) may reconfigure its network to remove feature rich switches from the ISP call delivery network and replace them with a small, tandem-like switch.